The Mad King's Heirs
by WildheartTheWarrior
Summary: "We are one. That is what our ancestors taught us, so many generations ago. So what makes these lions so different?" Many generations have passed since the time of King Simba. The Pride Lands are at peace...until a pride claiming to be Scar's descendants arrive. As tensions rise once more, two lions discover that sometimes, prejudices cannot be so easily put aside...


**Full Summary: "We are one. That is the lesson our ancestors taught us, so many generations ago. Well, if we are all one, then why can't we trust them? What makes _them_ so different from us?" Many, many generations have passed since the reign of King Simba, and of his children. The Pride Lands are at peace, in the midst of a golden era. And then that peace is shaken when a pride claiming to be the descendants of Scar, the Mad King, arrive in the Pride Lands to return to their ancestral home. But not all is as it seems, and tensions begin to rise between the PrideLanders and the children of their oldest enemy. As a storm looms on the horizon, two lions make the discovery that sometimes, old lessons cannot solve every problem. Sometimes, old prejudices cannot so easily be put aside...**

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_Our story begins with a great and terrible treachery._

_In the heart of Africa, in a time long, long ago, there was a great and prosperous kingdom. A kingdom in which there was no sickness or sorrow...a kingdom in which all creatures, great and small, existed together in peace as they lived out their places in the great Circle. A place ruled by wise and just Lion Kings who kept that peace._

_The Pride Lands._

_For generations upon generations, the Lion Kings of the Pride Lands governed their kingdom, caring for each loyal subject as lovingly as they would their own cubs. And when the time drew nearer for their Circle to close, they would pass down all of their knowledge and their wisdom to their cubs, so that when it was their heir's turn to assume the throne they could be as great a King as their father._

_But there were times when things weren't so simple. There were times when the Circle was broken._

_There were times when things went terribly _wrong.

_Once, there were two brothers. The elder was a great and powerful Lion King, with a pelt as golden as the dawn and a magnificent mane as red as the setting sun. He was Mufasa- "king" - and he ruled his lands with a gentle paw. He defended his subjects against those who would harm them with strength that was as great and terrible as a thunderstorm._

_The other brother, the younger...he was very different. His pelt was not golden; it was the deep orange of a burning ember. His mane was not russet as the sunset, but black as night, and his eyes were as green as the gems that lay buried in the earth. This lion was no King, but an outcast who spent his days skulking in caves and consorting with hyena._

_Once, we know, he had another name. But that name has been long forgotten, even by us. The name we know is the name that lives on in the darkest legends, in the nursery tales we tell our cubs at night._

_We know him as Scar._

_Scar was not strong, but he was clever...as clever as he was jealous. For Scar_ was_ jealous of his elder brother: of the power that he wielded over the kingdom, of the loyalty and adoration of his people. He_ wanted_ what his brother had, wanted it more than anything. Why should his brother be so loved? Was he not more_ clever_ than the supposedly-great King? Why should_ he_ not be able to rule? Why should_ he_ not be loved?_ He_ could rule better._

He_ could be_ great.

_Such were the thoughts that consumed the dark lion as the the years passed, growing in intensity and eating away at his mind until it left him mad. Until something in him snapped._

_Until the fateful day he took his brother's throne by_ force.

_Scar murdered his brother, covering it with the guise of a terrible, tragic accident, and drove away the King's young son to ensure that he was the next in line. And so Scar got what he had yearned for and dreamed of for so many years. He was_ King.

_But as much as he had convinced himself otherwise, Scar was not a King. He had never been taught how to keep the Circle in balance, how to ensure that there was enough food for all. And so under his rule, the Pride Lands fell into drought and despair. The once-fertile land had dried up. The plants died, and so the animals died and fled. The lions of the pride were starving under Scar, whose guilt had driven him even farther into madness than before. So they mourned the loss of their land and pride as what little hope had remained flickered out._

_Until, one day, one single spark changed everything._

_The old King's young son, the little cub that Scar had driven out to die, had survived. He had grown into a strong, noble lion. And when he discovered the state of his old land, he returned to set things right._

_A great battle followed, in which the young Prince confronted the crazed old king, and those loyal to Scar clashed with those who supported the rightful ruler. And by the end of it, the mad usurper lay dead. The new King took his place on the throne. And soon enough, the damage that Scar had done to the land began to undo itself, and the Pride Lands rejoiced._

_But not all were happy with the change of rule._

_There were those who had thrived under Scar's leadership; his favored lionesses, who had always been given the finest meats while the others starved, and who had received the better parts of his attentions. Some of them, the ones who had been most like the Mad King, swore vengeance against the new ruler and fled the kingdom in grief and rage._

_And then...there were others still who had fled in shame. There had been those among the pride who had borne the dark lion's cubs, and those who had yet to give birth. Some of them stayed, but others...others left the pride, ashamed of themselves and fearing repercussions against their children, born and unborn. Some of these lionesses banded together, disappearing into the night and taking their cubs with them. As they wandered the wilds of the world, they were joined by other lionesses without home or place to go. And soon enough, they had enough for a small pride of their own. A wandering pride, made up of only lioness and the children of a tyrant. The heirs of the Mad King._

_And when the children were old enough to understand, these lionesses passed their story on. They taught their children of King Mufasa, and of their father and what misery he brought upon the land. They told their cubs their history, so that they would not fall prey to the mistakes of the past and learn from it instead._

_It has been a very long time since then. Those lionesses have long since moved on from this world._

_But their story has remained. Passed down among our humble wandering pride, we still remember our home. We remember that we were not always wanderers. Once, we would have had a home._

_This is our history. These are our stories. And ever since those first lionesses left their kingdom behind, we have never stopped wandering._

_It has been a long time since we have had stability. We have grown so tired of this restlessness. Our pride yearns for a place to call our home – a_ real_ home. A place where we never have to worry about food, or water, or shelter ever again._

_It has been a long time since we have journeyed close to the Pride Lands. Perhaps too long. But the Pride Lands hold promise for us. It was the land in which our ancestors were born and raised._

_We are the children of Scar. We are the heirs of the Mad King._

_And we are finally coming home._

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**So. Wildy decided to give a TLK story a try :) Honestly, I'm not even sure how I did with this, so feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think!**


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